Take a picture of your passport.

I just did that this week. I already had PDFs from scans that I'd previously made for printouts. The light bulb went off and now they're loaded into both iBooks and Adobe Reader on my phone.

We scan ours for each trip and email it to ourselves and our adult children. We don't print a copy, but I'm always carrying ours in my money belt.

Very good advice. I don't want to start a discussion (see many threads asking the question ... ) about whether you should carry a copy or the original passport while walking around - but my passport photocopy has been accepted as an audioguide ID deposit several times. And I once used it to get a (legitimate ... ) Senior discount.

I always photograph passport, drivers license, insurance cards, any other important cards/documents for both hubby & me.

I build a PDF document before each trip. The document has all of the reservation confirmations phone numbers, links, emails an photos of the passports. I keep the pdf on my cell phone and on a cloud server.

People are going to do what they are going to do, but at least know that in Belgium and most every old soviet state it is a requirement that you carry your passport at all times; photos are not a substitute.

I keep my passport and tickets, etc. in a hotel or room safe. Before owning a smartphone, I carried a hard copy of my passport with me all the time. Now I have ditched the hard copy, and have a photo of my passport on my phone. And the same on my tablet which I don't carry with me.

Until a few years ago I never took a picture of my passport. Now there is a photocopy of the passport kept in my spinner. The hard copy of the passport stays in the inside zipped jacket pocket, which I have on or carry when I'm out and about, and absolutely on a day trip to another town.

Kaeleku, I just believe in being honest and laying out all the facts. I usually don't carry my passport in Western Europe. I carry it in Hungary, which is a pain, but i need it to prove ownership of my metro pass. I have been checked and the fine would be 8,000 fts if i didn't have it. In Belgium i would carry it because its the law and those poor people have enough trouble without me copping an attitude and refusing to carry it. In most of the old Soviet block countries it is also required by law and i am sort of a stickler about being a good guest. Its not about if i could get away without carrying it. and as a backup it's all on my phone and cloud account.

I take a picture of my passport, credit cards (both sides) and debit cards and upload them into Dropbox which is a very useful app. it is password protected so only you can access the file. It worked great on my last trip. No more bulky paper copies of these documents. I think I learned of it somewhere on this forum a few years ago.

I keep a copy in my bag in case I ever lose my passport but I keep my passport with me. A photo on your phone works well too and takes up no space in your luggage. You can also scan your passport and email a PDF to yourself. I like to use several options because if the worst happens and you lose your passport, you don't know exactly what you will have available to you when you go to the consulate to get a new one.

Meanwhile, your passport - not a photo or copy - is your only valid ID and proof you are in the country legally.

I too love Dropbox and have both photos and scans of my passport. I keep whatever I need in there that I can access from whatever device wherever I am. But the other bennie is that I have a shared folder. When my daughter was traveling during college I could add stuff (tickets I bought her, directions, reservations, etc.) to dropbox and she could access them as she needed. She could add things she needed me to see as well. On my last trip I had all of my travel docs and reservations so that my family could "track" my comings and goings. MUCH easier than emailing stuff that gets lost or buried in an inbox.

I've also started using Tripit to keep all travel docs sorted by trip. Heard about that during one of Rick's online programs "traveling with electronics". Let me tell you, THAT was a great use of my time in preparation for my trip(s).

Brad - the US passport now states on the inside cover that you may print a copy of your passport for ID purposes. Just FYI.

Chexbres, not to be argumentative, but I do have an observation. While some U.S. authorities may accept a copy, I doubt seriously all foreign authorities, hotels, car rental places, and such will accept a copy of the passport for ID purposes. Better, in my opinion, to just use the real thing.

And if the Bucharest police pick you up drunk at 4am outside of the BOA on Sos. Kiseleff you had better have a real passport.

.......or so I have heard........

James, I assume your information is from reliable sources.

:] .... hic

A most memorable trip ........ I understand

This is repetitive, but do know that Belgium and most every former Soviet satellite state requires that you carry your passport at all times. I suspect a photo isn't going to do much good, especially since it won't show an entry stamp. I suspect that gentleman outside the BOA would have been helped to the police station instead of being helped on his way home, if all he had was a photo of his documents.

TC - of course you would be required to produce your actual passport when checking in to a hotel or for tax refunds, car rentals, or other legalities, etc.
But a copy of your passport is a good idea to have in your possession, and is fine to use if you should encounter the police.
Keep the actual passport in the hotel safe - it's a pain to lose it and a pain to replace it.

It probably makes sense to have a paper copy of your passport and other important travel documents somewhere in your luggage as far away as possible from your real passport, in case that gets stolen.

It may also be important to understand what people may or may not do with your passport. In Germany at least, non-official people like hotel staff are not entitled to take it away from you and keep it, for instance as a sort of deposit. Not sure why store clerks would need to see your passport at all - well, I guess they might do random checks to prevent credit card identity theft.

But a copy of your passport is ... fine to use if you should encounter
the police.

@Chexbres: You are not being serious, are you? In which countries do you expect the police will actually honor a passport copy?

In the UK and France, like most all of Western Europe it is not a requirement that you carry your passport, so a picture of it is an extra I guess. I'd be curious how much weight it would carry if thats the only ID you had on you; or if you had other I'D why they would want to see a passport photo. Given whats going on in the world it might be nice to be able to demonstrate on the spot that you entered legally and you havent visited a handful of countries, but that would require the actual passport. I do have a photo on my phone and a printed copy in my luggage, but that's more for taking to the consulate if I loose my passport.

Nothing at all wrong with having a copy. We have them. But the usefulness of a copy will have limitations.